'Something good always happens after a tough phase' - Renuka Singh on fame, fatigue and fulfillment

Renuka Singh settled down on a chair for an interview with the broadcaster, in the conference hall of a South Mumbai hotel, with a wide grin. For close to an hour, she stood. Cameras, phones and microphones were thrust in front of her as she moved from one media interaction to another. These sets were only separated by the photo requests from some of those in attendance for Gujarat Giants' (GG) pre-WPL 2026 event. She obliged them, too.

In between, she checked her watch to see if she wasn't missing out on the mandatory doping test she had to take. The satisfaction of reaching the finish line was evident on her face, as she got ready for her final media commitment of the day.

Tired? Yes. Fed up? Not at all.

Renuka - and by extension, the Indian women's cricket team - has been in a celebratory mode for a large part of the last two months. Following their ODI World Cup win in November 2025, they have been part of various interviews and reality shows, and have occupied spaces on advertisements and billboards. Does it feel a lot, already, or is Renuka game for more?

"It's fun. This is what we have always wanted," Renuka tells ESPNcricinfo. "We were always saying women's cricket is not growing, people are not recognising us. So we are enjoying this now; it's a different experience. We must experience everything in life. We don't know what's in store in the future. So [I am] always grateful for what we get.

"At times, it was tiring, but this is a great phase. We were like, this is what happens after you win a World Cup. We kept talking that there are so many changes - in how people perceive us now - after winning a World Cup. We never knew about this feeling. Even when we lifted that trophy, we didn't realise what that moment meant. But after that, slowly we realised the magnitude of our achievement. Today also when we look at those videos of the winning moment, it feels surreal."

About six months before the World Cup began, though, destiny threatened to snatch Renuka's dream even before it could take shape. She is a wily new ball bowler on the field, and a fun-loving team-mate off it However, after WPL 2025 - in which she picked up ten wickets, playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) - she was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back. 2025 had been her best returns in a season of the WPL, and she felt in as good a flow she has ever been in.

She could not believe the results of her MRI scan. She had spent the best part of 2023 rehabilitating from a back injury, and she still remembers how that period had felt. "I did not feel pain at all [after this injury], so I was not able to accept it," Renuka says.

"I'd already had a back injury, so I know how much it hurts. But when I was not even feeling the pain, how can I deal with it? It took time for me to accept [the diagnosis]. A lot of people tried to make me understand. I even told the physio that perhaps, the machine has gone kaput. I was in very good rhythm in the WPL, too."

Once she accepted her fate, she began her rehabilitation. Renuka checked in at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE), and had a set routine - one that involved time away from the game she knew and loved. It was during this time that words of Amol Muzumdar, India's head coach, acted as a comforting factor.

"Amol sir told me: 'Whatever has happened, has happened. The future will be better. Focus on the World Cup ,and prepare for that'. He used to call regularly to check on me. Even the CoE helped me out with whatever I needed. Those six months were very difficult for me.

"You have to repeat the same routines. You get up, go out, do the same things again and again; it gets boring after a point. I used to talk to my friends, I used to keep talking to the physios at the CoE, and that helped a little. But you get frustrated by the same routine that does not involve bowling."

While Renuka felt she was "at the same pace", she gradually recovered and returned to the India squad refreshed and with more belief in the methods of the CoE. She played two matches of the bilateral ODI series against Australia just before the World Cup. In India's victorious campaign, she picked up three wickets in six matches.

But her impact was beyond those bare numbers. Among bowlers who bowled at least 20 overs in the powerplay (first ten overs) at the World Cup, Renuka's economy of 3.93 was only bettered by South Africa's Marizanne Kapp (3.35) and England's left-arm spinner Linsey Smith (3.38).

"When I returned for the World Cup, I felt a difference in my fitness and bowling," Renuka says. "I did not pick up a lot of wickets in the World Cup, but I am happy with my performance. I improved what I wanted to, fitness-wise and fielding-wise. This is why I prefer going to CoE, because you find personal people to work on your bowling, training and physiotherapy. Even in the past, I have noticed that when I spend a few days there, it has a different impact on me, and shows improvement in my performances.

"Now I look back at that phase and think that something good always happens after a tough phase. Those six months were difficult, but after that, I had a very good time. It doesn't happen with everyone; I am lucky I got these things."

Having tasted a win at the grand stage, Renuka's eagerness to win a WPL trophy has only increased. After three seasons with RCB, she will now play for GG, a team whose best showing in the competition came last season, when they were knocked out in the Eliminator.

Renuka will have a few familiar faces in the squad: her former Himachal Pradesh and current Railways team-mate Tanuja Kanwar, her India team-mate Rajeshwari Gayadwad, and former RCB team-mates Georgia Wareham, Sophie Devine, and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, apart from a few young India bowlers. Does she find adapting to a new environment slightly challenging?

"I am very easy at adapting," she chuckles. "My nature is funny, and I am very talkative. I don't face a lot of problems in approaching and talking to people. I know a lot of players; some played at RCB with me, some in domestic cricket, some are my friends. There hasn't been an issue. [I am] excited to play under a new captain [Ashleigh Gardner] to see what her mindset and thinking is."

After speaking to the media, Renuka walked towards the vacant chair that lay in her wait.

Death-bowling, she said, was one of the areas she wanted to work on during this WPL, with an eye on the T20 World Cup in June. All her goals and a long list of fixtures will arrive soon enough, over the next few weeks. But first, for Renuka, it is time for lights, camera, action.